Month: May 2017

It’s my turn to write about autism today as part of R.J. Scott’s fabulous blog hop. I’ve worked with young people with autism for a long number of years, and met some amazing people who have gone on to do amazing things. However, anyone with autism, or anyone who is close to someone with autism will know that things are rarely easy or straight forward.

Recently, there have been some wonderful stories from the m/m community with main characters who are autistic. I’ve read wonderful, positive representations of what it is like for someone with Asperger’s syndrome or autism to love and be loved. My favourites are, ‘Carry the Ocean’ by Eli Easton – I’ve not read the follow up book yet, but it’s definitely on my list, and ‘In the Absence of Light’ by Adrienne Wilder. Really different books, but I loved them both for the way that they portray autism in a positive way but without totally glossing over the fact that life is frequently difficult.

There have been some fantastic mainstream books, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time is probably the most famous, but I looked on Goodreads for some examples of books with autistic characters, and wasn’t overly surprised by some of them that came up. Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro was one I’d always thought had overtones of autism. Check this list out – I’m certainly going to read some of these.

I’m about to start reading Chris Packham’s book, ‘Fingers in the Sparkle Jar – a Memoir’ and it has had some stunning reviews, hitting the bestsellers lists immediately. I’ve grown up with Chris Packham on TV, and always thought he was amazing and didn’t realise until recently he was autistic, so I am really looking forward to reading it. http://tinyurl.com/myxvudu

As awareness about autism grows, and more and more people in the public eye identify as autistic, it gives more role models and better, broader representation of diversity.

What books have inspired you? What books would you recommend? Leave me a comment and at the end of May I will pick out someone at random and let them have an e-copy of my latest novel, Trapped.

Ruby Moone writes Historical M/M. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter -@RubyMooneWriter and Instagram. Her latest novel, Trapped was released earlier this year and for a chance to win a free e-copy, add your comments below.